Auburn can attract top candidate thanks to NIL success

Silly season officially kicked into high gear on Monday when Auburn announced it was firing Bryan Harsin. And make no mistake the coaching carousel is going to look unlike anything else we’ve ever seen before thanks to NIL.

Countless college football insiders have told On3 over the last few weeks NIL is going to impact the decisions of coaches.

Certain schools are going to be more attractive to candidates, largely because of the war chests that have been assembled by booster-led collectives. Those war chests help coaches hit the recruiting trail and will dramatically impact success – or lack thereof – with roster maintenance and in the Transfer Portal.

“In the past, I think resources, facilities and obviously salaries there were important for the right coaches,” a former head coach that’s now Big 12 assistant told On3. “I think the ability to recruit good players in today’s world comes with a dollar sign, whether people want to admit that or not. That’s the reality.”

“Some schools are putting money into facilities and other ones are putting them into players. When you can sign good players because you can pay them through NIL, you have a chance to be a whole lot better coach.”

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Auburn Tigers in excellent NIL situation

And there’s little doubt to college insiders that Auburn’s in an excellent situation from a NIL standpoint.

Sources confirmed to On3’s Auburn Live in September that On To Victory, the school’s primary NIL collective, raised more than $10 million in the first month of its 30 in 3 campaign. That number has reportedly ballooned to around $13 million.

On To Victory is run by executive director Brett Whiteside, who has extensive experience in recruiting from his time as Mizzou’s Chief Recruiting Officer and previous stops as Auburn’s Director of Recruiting Operations and Director of Football Operations. Former Tigers’ star quarterback Jason Campbell is also involved with helping student-athletes determine their NIL market value.

The group has also already partnered with more than 100 student-athletes across different sports programs at Auburn.

But make no mistake, football is what drives the bus. And experts say having money in the bank and the ability for the new coach to showcase potential recruits or transfers there’s an appetite to do NIL deals will go a long way toward landing a top coaching target. It could also help turn around momentum with roster maintenance and on the recruiting trail with top targets like five-star EDGE Qua Russaw or four-star EDGE Rueben Bain.

“There’s probably only a small handful of collectives in the SEC or probably in the entire country that is in a better situation than Auburn,” a rival SEC collective operator that asked not to be named told On3. “They’re a sleeping giant that’s about to flex because of their NIL muscles.”